FOXBOROUGH, Mass., Aug. 4, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- The 2008 SuperLiga final matchup features two MLS teams, as the New England Revolution will host the Houston Dynamo on Tuesday, August 5 at Gillette Stadium beginning at 8:00 pm ET. The annual SuperLiga tournament crowns the best between four clubs from Major League Soccer and four from Mexico's Primera Division. The match will be played on Gillette Stadium's player-friendly FieldTurf that recently achieved FIFA 2-Star recommended status for its excellent playability characteristics.
This marks the first time the SuperLiga final has been played on any brand of artificial turf.
The industry's premier multi-purpose turf system, FieldTurf is easily converted from sports events to conventions or concerts. Recently, Bruce Springsteen performed at Gillette Stadium and both concertgoers and musicians were able to share the field without causing damage to the turf surface. Professionals depend on the flexibility and convenience of staging events right on top of FieldTurf, with no damage to the surface. The solid load-bearing capacity of the patented infill system allows for stadiums like Gillette to host a major concert and three days later, a championship soccer match. This is a feat that simply cannot be duplicated by a natural grass surface.
"Providing Gillette Stadium with the world's most trusted turf system in 2006 was one of the high points in our company's history," said FieldTurf Tarkett CEO Joe Fields. "The Patriots have an outstanding record on FieldTurf while the New England Revolution can enjoy playing on the FIFA 2-Star recommended surface that has proven itself at every level of soccer. This SuperLiga final being played on FieldTurf re-affirms what hundreds of top-level soccer organizations worldwide have come to realize: FieldTurf is the industry's best soccer-specific artificial turf pitch."
Gillette Stadium featured a natural grass playing surface from 2002-2006. The stadium is the home of both the New England Patriots and the New England Revolution. In addition, Gillette hosts a variety of other special events, including concerts. As a multi-use facility in a cold-weather climate, concerns had arisen in previous years with regards to the ability to keep the natural grass in a pristine and playable condition. The installation of FieldTurf eliminated those concerns, and gave Gillette an outstanding and consistent playing surface.
Several North American professional soccer teams play their home games on FieldTurf. The New England Revolution (MLS), Toronto FC (MLS), Real Salt Lake (MLS), Seattle Sounders (USL), Rochester Rhinos (USL), and Atlanta Silverbacks (USL) have all opted to play their home matches on the industry's best soccer-specific turf system. From June 30th - July 22nd, 2007 the world's elite young soccer talents competed in the FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007. 24 teams from around the world made history as they participated in the first FIFA World Cup ever to be played on artificial turf. Almost half of the 52 matches including the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals were featured on FieldTurf.
BMO Field's FieldTurf surface, home to Major League Soccer's Toronto FC, and the site of international soccer matches involving the Canadian national teams, hosted the 2008 Pepsi MLS All-Star Game. The MLS all-stars played against West Ham United of England's Premier League in one of the more entertaining All-Star contests in recent memory that led to many of the players complimenting the FieldTurf surface at BMO Field. "It is a good field here, to be honest," said David Beckham after playing for the first time on the FieldTurf at BMO Field right after the 2008 MLS All-star Game. "It is flat and the ball rolls well on it."
For more information on FieldTurf, please visit www.fieldturf.com